Jyo Vaid

The outbreak of Umbrella’s virus has finally hit the PC. Should you get infected?

September 10, 2009 - Six months ago, Capcom returned to its survival horror roots by unleashing Resident Evil 5, the latest installment of its acclaimed franchise, on consoles. Reuniting some of the classic characters while at the same time taking advantage of features from the previous title in the series, RE5 was an evolution of the genre. The addition of co-op further added to the fast paced action, as you had a hand to fend off the infected denizens of Kijuju. However, up till now, only console players could enjoy fighting the hordes; fortunately, that’s about to change. Resident Evil 5 has arrived on PCs, and while the release on computers isn’t a director’s cut, packing tons of additional content, the few new bells and whistles included definitely make it a solid improvement over the console versions, and arguably the best version of the game that’s been released.

If you’re not aware of the story of Resident Evil 5, allow me to provide a brief and spoiler free summary. Chris Redfield, one of the survivors of the Arklay Mansion incident in the original Resident Evil title, has joined a new group known as the Bioterrorism Security Assessment Alliance, a worldwide organization whose task is to prevent the spread of biological weapons from being used. Chris is sent to a fictional region of Africa because of a possible outbreak, and is met by his new partner, Sheva Alomar, who helps in his investigation. Along the way, Chris and Sheva find themselves facing familiar people from Chris’ past as well as discover a plot that could be the deadliest threat the world has ever faced.

For the most part, this is exactly the same story on the PC that you’ll find on the consoles. (If you’re looking for a breakdown of combat, the racism controversy and more about the game, check out our original review.) That means that you won’t find any additional chapters or quick time events, nor is there an epilogue that highlights what happens to the characters at the end of the game. That’s not to say that there aren’t any new features that have been implemented within the gameplay. In fact, there are a few adjustments that have been made which improve the experience. The first adjustment involves making the inventory of both Chris and Sheva hot swappable thanks to the 1 through 9 keys. Hitting any one of these keys instantly equips the item, reducing the amount of steps that you need to perform. This can be particularly vital, especially in the midst of combat where you don’t have the time to access the menu screen, select and equip an object and avoid an incoming blow.

Another adjustment that’s been made is the addition of mouse and keyboard support, which you’d expect with a game that’s been ported to the PC, even though it supports the 360 controller as well and can be swapped back and forth at will. But it’s more than just a simple WASD adjustment that you’ll find here. For one thing, the keyboard provides a quick turn button that can instantly be pressed to rotate your characters around. This is effective when you’re trying to prevent yourself from being surrounded by Majini or other creatures that are looking to rip you to pieces. Another plus is the inclusion of a quick knife button that allows you to instantly swing your knife at an enemy or an object in quick succession, giving you a last second item of protection. But perhaps the largest and most significant adjustment is the larger aiming reticule for the mouse, which allows you to ready a firearm with the right mouse button and fire with the left. No longer are you forced to rely on a laser pointer to indicate where bullets are going to go; instead, you can line up your target in the expanded sight and fire away.

There is one section where this fails, however. During the vehicle sequences, where you and your partner leap onto a turret to repel incoming attacks and defeat your enemies, the expanded reticule mysteriously shrinks for some strange reason to an incredibly tiny red cross. This can be extremely difficult to see and aim properly, potentially reducing your chances of success. It’s not like this can’t be adjusted or even compensated for, nor is it one of those issues that radically breaks the gameplay, but it is a big adjustment to be forced back to when you’re accustomed to the larger reticule for a majority of the game. Just prepare to spray and pray Players can choose to take on the game by themselves or with a friend thanks to Games for Windows Live, although the title does wind up having a bit of a clunky menu system for joining players together. You can search for other games or invite players to leap into a mission with you, but the title is really set up for establishing a session with friends once you’re already in a chapter. Immediately hosting a session and extending an invite to someone can potentially get lost within the clunky menu system, which hasn’t been simplified for computer users and can cause a few minutes of confusion. However, like the console version, if a player winds up dropping out of the game, the AI instantly picks up where they were and allows the game to continue, which is a great plus.

The other extra, however, will definitely give the hardcore player a challenge. Like the console, you unlock Mercenaries mode after you complete the game, and you try to kill as many enemies as possible alone or with a friend within a time limit. While the PC version has scrapped the Versus mode from the console which many people didn’t particularly like, it has replaced this feature with No Mercy mode, a solo-only mission where you take on three times the enemies for every one within the normal Mercenaries mode. Needless to say, while this can provide you with incredible combos (like ten or twenty kill combos with a well placed grenade or proximity mine), it can also lead to hordes of Majini, creatures and other enemies swarming you in insane numbers that seem ripped from a Romero zombie film. The downside of this hardcore mode that is a lot of fun is that the framerate of the game tends to take a hit when the game tries to display more than thirty Majini on screen at once.

That brings me to the visuals, which are noticeably sharper than the consoles thanks to the higher resolution that PC video cards can provide. While the game is optimized for Core i7’s and has been optimized to run in Windows 7 once it’s released, RE5 will run quite comfortably on a dual or quad core that meets the basic specs with minimal issues. Running on our quad core machine at 2.4Ghz with 4 gigs of RAM and our twin GTX 275s gave us absolutely no problems whatsoever, and I only found a slight amount of frame drops or hitches that cropped up here and there, usually in the middle of extremely hectic battle sequences. However, it is readily apparent that RE5 is optimized for monitors that are running at 120Hz to take advantage of Nvidia’s 3D Vision. When I ran the game on an older 60Hz monitor, there was a ton of screen tearing to be found. While it was still a very pretty game to look at, turning rapidly (especially if the mouse sensitivity was cranked up) could cause tearing to be extremely prevalent during play. It’s not enough to hamper a game session or cause you to die because of an incoming attack, but it can detract from the experience.

However, if you do happen to have a 120Hz monitor and you have the Nvidia 3D vision glasses, you’re definitely in for a serious treat. RE5 was designed to fully take advantage of 3D, and it doesn’t disappoint, rendering Chris and Sheva in a way that provides them with the visual illusion of weight and mass as they move through their environments instead of being flat 2D images onscreen. Objects and enemies also appear to pop out of the screen during certain segments of the game as well, piercing the digital “fourth wall” with a sense of negative depth that is quite incredible. Once you see the slithering worms of the first boss of the game seemingly drip through the screen at your face, you’ll know you’re seeing something special. Since you’re able to tailor the perception of the depth to your personal taste, you can also adjust how much of an impact the 3D has, which allows you to make the experience fully subjective to your tastes. While not everyone with a PC may have the gear to take advantage of the 3D, it’s extremely easy to enable, and RE5 provides two benchmark tests to help you configure your experience. If you have the means, definitely check out the game like this – you’ll enjoy the experience

Closing Comments

It may not be a radically new Resident Evil 5, but the PC version of the game still manages to hold its own with an improved control scheme and extra Mercenaries mode. While the addition of costumes is somewhat minor, and you may require a few upgrades to your computer to take full advantage of what the game has to offer, you’re exploring a great story and excellent gameplay. Plus, the inclusion of 3D is a harbinger of what gaming will probably become, and the effect is extremely nice if you have the opportunity to take advantage of it. Umbrella’s virus hasn’t completely evolved, but it’s definitely worth isolating yourself with a copy of RE5 for a while.

out of 10

Rating	click here for ratings guide
8.5	Presentation The RE5 look and feel has translated to the PC version well, although you don’t have to worry about split-screen and the amount of menus you have to deal with are limited thanks to hotswapping.
9.5	Graphics RE5 is actually better looking on the PC, and if you happen to have the equipment, playing in 3D is an excellent experience. There’s more screen tearing and it’s clearly optimized for 120Hz monitors,
9.0	Sound Every music cue, sound effect and phrase has been faithfully transferred over to the PC version, making the gameplay just as immersive, unsettling and enjoyable as the consoles.
9.0	Lasting Appeal No Mercy will give the most hardcore Mercenaries mode fan a challenge, particularly when you’re facing dozens of enemies at once. Otherwise, you’ll find the same replayable features here.
OVERALL (out of 10 / not an average)	9.3 Outstanding

No Comments » Posted by JYO / Gaming

H.A.W.X is the latest. In case you think the Tom Clancy is a game maker

The answer is no. He is a author of many great novels.

Published by ubisoft the game comes between the events of two more tom clancy’s games Ghost Recon Advanced War Fighter 2 and End War both by Ubisoft.

H.A.W.X means High Altitude War Experimental

ah ! you might have guessed by now it’s about Planes

you lead your ghost recon boys in the game

The game’s gotta be awesome especially with the news that it works on low end computers too.

No Comments » Posted by JYO / Gaming

If money talks, then silence pays

the game was released in the year 2002 the story is about an assassin who kills and gets paid for it the more silent he is the more he gets paid

• Travel around the world and reveal the mystery about nuclear arms
• Speacial rating system allows you to know how silent you really are
• Silent assassin rating gets you bonus missions

So go ahead get in 47’s shoes

Rating 8.6/10 (Very Good)

Dem Download LINK

No Comments » Posted by JYO / Gaming

Following the critical acclaim it received upon its release, Saints Row 2 has received awards from various critics and publications, including Official Xbox Magazine awarding it Sandbox Game of the Year. IGN awarded it for best Freeplay game of the year. Video Game Awards awarded it for best Freedom in a game of 2008.

During the events preceding the game, the protagonist was onboard a private yacht which had a bomb detonated on it, putting the protagonist in a trauma-induced coma, who is sent to a prison hospital ward. After five years, the protagonist regains consciousness and is given extensive plastic surgery, allowing the player to create a new character. A fellow inmate, Carlos Mendoza, a brother of one of the 3rd Street Saints, helps the protagonist to escape and make his way back to Stilwater, rebuilt from a devastating earthquake. The protagonist is able to free former Saint Johnny Gat just before the end of his trial and with his help, enlists the help of three others — Pierce, Shaundi and also Carlos. The protagonist ressurects the Saints and so is referred to simply as the Boss and leads them on a mission to reclaim Stilwater from three new gangs that have taken over after the fall of the Saints.
As the plot is centered around the 3rd Street Saints’ quest in taking down three rival gangs that have now conquered Stilwater, most of the storyline is divided into three separate mission arcs, which can be completed in any order, or even at the same time.
One of the story arcs involves the Saints’ quest to eliminate the Brotherhood of Stilwater, which is a gang formed from the outcasts of society. They are generally aggressive, asking questions only after the dust has settled. Maero, the leader of the Brotherhood, offers to split Stilwater with the Saints, but only offering the Saints twenty percent of the profit. The Boss, outraged at the offer, replaces Maero’s tattoo ink with radioactive waste, causing the left half of Maeros face to be badly scarred. This begins a war of attrition, the Brotherhood responding to the Saints’ threats with more damaging results: Carlos and Maero’s girlfriend Jessica are killed in the process and the Brotherhood nearly burns Stilwater to the ground. The Boss learns that the Brotherhood is overseeing weapons deliveries by boat and captures a large stash, crippling the Brotherhood. The Boss is challenged by Maero for a final face-off, but is able to get the better of him.
One of the story arcs involves the Saints’ quest to eliminate the Sons of Samedi while distributing “Loa Dust”, a potent drug, to the citizens of Stilwater. Through tips from Shaundi, the Saints discover that the Samedi’s drug smuggling is interfering with their plans to clean up the city and begin to go after the various assets that the Samedi use to make the Loa Dust, including their farms and laboratories. The General, the leader of the Sons of Samedi in Stilwater, along with his right-hand man Mr. Sunshine, order their agent DJ Veteran Child to stop the Saints. Veteran Child attempts to kidnap his former girlfriend Shaundi, but the Boss is able to save her and kill him. The Samedi also kidnap the Boss and inject him or her with a great deal of Loa Dust during an all-out assault on the Saints headquarters, but are thwarted. The General cuts one of Mr. Sunshine’s ears off after the helicopter drug distribution task fails and the Boss later kills Mr. Sunshine (who managed to take several shots before his head is decapitated, ensuring his death). Later, the Saints ambush the General’s convoy and the General retreats into the Ultor Shopping Mall where he is killed by the Boss.
One of the story arcs involves the Saints’ quest to eliminate the Ronin, a Japanese biker gang who have taken over much of the high-end entertainment in Stilwater and are led by Shogo Akuji and funded by his father, Kazuo. Gat identifies various targets of the Ronin that the Saints can hit to recover their territory, but their efforts do not go unnoticed. Shogo orders an attack on Gat and his girlfriend, former R&B singer Aisha. The assassination attempt is carried out by top Ronin henchman Jyunichi. Aisha is sliced across the throat by Jyunichi and Gat is stabbed just to the right of his stomach, but survives. The Boss proceeds to attack various Ronin henchmen to protect Gat until a Saints car arrives to take him to the hospital and eventually faces off against Jyunichi in a swordfight, killing him. Shogo later attempts to ambush Gat and the protagonist at Aisha’s funeral; he is defeated and given a Texas funeral by Johnny. Kazuo Akuji declares war on the 3rd Street Saints, threatens the gangs’ friends in the international district, but the Boss finishes him in a swordfight after shooting him in the chest with a pistol and phones his pained screams to his assassin friend Mr. Wong. The Boss then leaves Kazuo to die aboard the burning boat they were on at the time.
A side mission can also be unlocked at any time throughout the game and reveals that one of the original Saints, Dex, was offered a job at Ultor to sew seeds of discontent in the Saints. Julius, the former leader of the Saints, did not like what the gang was becoming and planted the bomb on the yacht five years ago, hoping to get rid of the protagonist and let the Saints dissolve. The Boss hears a series of wiretap conversations and receives Dex’s phone number. After contacting him, he is told to meet Dex at the old Saints church, but upon arriving there, Julius is found instead. After discovering that each was told by Dex to meet him there, Dex (although he is not seen), quickly stops his car by the church and throws a smoke grenade through a window, then speeds off. They realize they are being setup and are immediately ambushed by the Ultor Masako Team. After they successfully escape, the Boss later kills Julius in a cutscene as revenge for losing five years of his life.

Rating 8.2/10 (GOOD)

We are sorry for the inconvenience but no demo is availible at the moment

No Comments » Posted by JYO / Gaming

Since I don’t own this game yet I will give a brief review of the game from IGN

To be fair, when we finally managed to get the game running well, it still looked superb, but it seems it’s going to be some time before you’re going to be able to set all the graphical options to max and enjoy the show. A nice touch is the way the game shows you what the visuals are going to look like as you make changes, removing detail in the distance as you slide the view distance slider down from the hopeful 100 per cent to a more realistic mid twenties number. Texture quality appears to be the real killer, with anything above medium causing big issues with our non-SLI setup. It’s hard to say for sure without comparing side by side, but a modest gaming rig should be able to pump out visuals at least on par with the console versions.

Controls next, and here Rockstar has done an excellent job. Mouse and keyboard controls work great for the most part, obviously excelling when it comes to gun-play, but even driving isn’t so bad with the WASD keys. It’s not completely ideal though, so we’d recommend you have a gamepad plugged in at the same time - preferably the 360 controller that the game recognises automatically. You’re able to switch between the two control setups on the fly, so it’s perfectly possible to dump the pad when you’re done driving, returning to the keyboard and mouse to tackle some goons with your AK-47.

Perhaps more exciting than visual and control tweaks is the brand new video editor. In the PC game you’re able to record 30-second clips and then edit them together using the in-built editing suite. We’re not experts (at all) when it comes to video editing (apart from Seb), but in 30 minutes or so (including play time) we were able to put together a fairly amusing short video, manually positioning the camera, zooming, panning, and other things that are over our heads. We ended up with a rather dramatic scene showing Niko being shot by a cop’s shotgun, before falling to the floor in slow motion. Not Oscar worthy material, clearly, but we can see YouTube being dominated by this stuff in the near future. Once you’re done editing the video, inserting music and adding any text you think will improve the film along the way, you can save to a 720p WMV or upload to the Rockstar Social Club - both took a fair amount of time, but the results are worth it.

The final tweak of any real significance is the increase in multiplayer numbers from 16 to 32, at least in the Deathmatch, GTA Race and Free modes. It’s one of those things that you assume is going to be great, but it’s hard to know how much difference it’s going to make until you play it for yourself. We’re glad to report that it helps and awful lot. While we really like GTA 4 multiplayer on Xbox 360 and PS3, at times the games felt a little empty. On PC, with up to 32 players running around and driving cars, the game feels more alive. If you’re after the best multiplayer version of GTA 4, the PC game wins hands down.

Aside from the aforementioned performance issues (we expect people will be using GTA 4 as a benchmark tool for years to come) there’s the issue of all the apps that need to be running in order to play the game. If you want to play online you’ll need a Rockstar Social Club account (free) and a Games for Windows LIVE account (also free), and both of these must be running. Add in Steam if you’ve got the digitally distributed version, and that’s three apps all running while you’re blasting away gang members. Our experience was quite painless, with our Games for Windows account linking to our Rockstar Social Club account seamlessly, with the only odd thing being how our friends were split between Steam and the GFW service. Still, it’s nice to be able to earn Achievements (tied to your gamertag) - something few PC games support.

If you’ve been waiting for the ultimate version of GTA 4, then this is it, providing you can put up with a fair amount of hassle to get the game running well and all the services you need to sign up to in order to play the game in the first place. The mouse and keyboard controls are great, the video editing suite is a brilliant bonus and the enhanced multiplayer is what the game really needed. There’s no doubt about it. GTA 4 is one of the best games of the year and as such one of the best we’ve ever played.

Rating (According to IGN)

Gameplay 9/10

Graphics 10/10

Sound 10/10

Overall 10/10 (Unstopable)

Demo Link (Sorry there is no official demo launched)

No Comments » Posted by JYO / Gaming

Mafia is based on the year 1930 the story is good it starts with Thomas Angelo a poor taxi driver who was did not earn much but was glad the fact that he was working and ends with Tommy a mafia member

His fate changes when 2 gangsters on a wild goose chase get their car crashed and end up in his taxi. They offerhim a job in their clan and so changes Thomas Angelo to Tommy.

Demo Download LINK (Note You need to be above 18 to play this game)

Rating 10/10 (Unbeatable)

No Comments » Posted by JYO / Gaming

Ever wondered what it would be like to have Batman, his team and his vehicels. Well here is your chance grab your copy for the brand new total conversion of GTA San Andreas. GTA : Gotham City

The full version will be out in the summer though the beta is enough for me. It includes

-2 batsuts (animated and batman beyond)
-Bruce Wayne
-4 other characters (Robin, Batgirl, Nightwing, Lucious Fox)
-5 batvehicles (1998, 1966, tumbler, batwing, redbird)
-flamed nitro

Click HERE to download the MOD

No Comments » Posted by JYO / Gaming

Hoping that there is no introduction required for the famous series of GTA I write this article

A new mod was released by a certain uploader at moddb “coin-gold’

In this beta you will find your self in a lost town in the middle of nowhere. In this “Ghost Town” strange things happens, you have to guide Leon Kennedy against the creatures you find in your way to escape from th horror in the Beta 0.5. - Coin-gold

The mod actually consists of lot of bugs and requires a fix (already published) but still is good

There is one more bug I spotted you cannot open ZD game soft recorder with it.

Rating 8.0/10 (Good)

No Comments » Posted by JYO / Gaming

A very high end PC game by Electronic Arts

Based on the “crytek” engine it provides with the best graphics

The year is 2020 and the Koreans have secured a crash site of meteorite the U.S. wants to study the extraordinary Meteor

There is a war. the U.S. ultimately wins because of it’s high powered technology and then …….. An alien invasion

Can you save the world ?

Rating 9.0/10 (Excellent)

No Comments » Posted by JYO / Gaming

The game is yet yo be released in summer 2009.Least expected from Edios Interactive the game is based on the Arkham Asylum where baman takes all his enemies in captivity.

The Arkham Asylum is actually a mental institution.

The game begins when batman finally catches the Joker and brings him to the asylum the police reach there in time to take the joker under security but never the less the Joker manages to escape

Rating - /10 (Not yet released)

No Comments » Posted by JYO / Gaming